‘U.S. News & World Report’ ranks VUMC No. 1 hospital in Tennessee

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has once again been named among the nation’s elite providers of health care services by U.S. News and World Report in the publication’s 2012-13 Best Hospitals edition.

This year, U.S. News unveiled new “Regional Recognitions” as part of its annual rankings. VUMC was lauded as both the No. 1 hospital in Tennessee and No. 1 in the Metro Nashville area.

In the just-released 2012-13 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals,” VUMC equaled an all-time best with 11 out of a possible 16 specialty programs being ranked among the top 50 in their respective fields, with three specialties now ranking among the top 10 in the nation.

“Public recognition as a center providing destination, cutting-edge care in broad areas of disease is fundamental to our mission as a world leader in academic medicine,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “Growing recognition by U.S. News in so many specialties serves as a reminder our efforts are truly making a difference in the lives of our patients, and that Vanderbilt remains a growing force in health care delivery, education and research on the national and international stages.”

VUMC was also ranked as one of the nation’s “Most Connected Hospitals,” according to the publication for “being among the vanguard of centers leading medicine into the era of electronic medical records (EMRs).”

“The latest ranking from U.S. News offers further validation of the sustained effort and intense commitment demonstrated by the faculty and staff of our hospitals and clinics,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., deputy vice chancellor for Health Affairs and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System. “I want to congratulate and commend everyone for the continued pursuit to provide our patients the very highest quality care.”

In the report released Tuesday, July 17, the following VUMC specialty programs ranked among the top 50 in their respective fields:

Cancer (29)

Cardiology and Heart Surgery (25)

Diabetes and Endocrinology (33)

Ear, Nose and Throat (7)

Gastroenterology (24)

Gynecology (16)

Nephrology (11)

Neurology and Neurosurgery (33)

Orthopaedics (35)

Pulmonology (9)

Urology (6)

The Medical Center’s programs in Geriatrics and Rheumatology also received recognition as “High Performing,” a distinction for top regional programs.

Of the 4,793 hospitals evaluated by U.S. News, only 148 performed well enough to have even one specialty program ranked among the nation’s best. To be eligible, hospitals must either be a teaching hospital, be affiliated with a medical school, have at least 200 beds or have at least 100 beds plus certain medical technologies. This year 46 percent of all hospitals in the nation met the criteria.

RTI International, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., compiled all data and produced the rankings for U.S. News. The “America’s Best Hospitals” 2012-13 is accessible online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and is scheduled to hit newsstands July 27.

In a separate ranking released last month, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt was named by U.S. News as among the best in the nation, with a maximum 10 out of 10 pediatric specialty programs ranked.